Open source alternatives to Spotify

6 projects on starwire do the same job. Ranked by how much of what Spotify does each one covers, read from its README and website. Ties go to the most active.

What Spotify does

  1. Stream songs, albums and podcastscore
  2. Playlists and librarycore
  3. Personalized recommendationscore
  4. Offline downloads
  5. Play on other devices
  6. Lyrics
  7. Social sharing and collaborative playlists
  8. Desktop, mobile and web apps

Each dot in the table is one job, in this order. Square dots are core jobs and count double. Full means yes, half means partly. "See the evidence" under a project shows the line behind each one. Coverage is what a project documents, not how well it works or how hard it is to move to. How we score this

ProjectCoversStarsCommits, 12 weeksLast releaseClosed vs openedSetupLicense
SquareUnofficial YouTube Music and Spotify client for Android with a Rust core Same job, different way91%520+25
304
 2 days ago85% Install like an app GPL-3.0
Covers all 3 core jobs. Partly: Social sharing and collaborative playlists; Desktop, mobile and web apps.See the evidence
  • Stream songs, albums and podcastscoreYesHome, search, the library and the player work the same
  • Playlists and librarycoreYesPlaylists, albums, artists and liked songs.
  • Personalized recommendationscoreYesA home page of shelves made for you
  • Offline downloadsYesDownload playlists, albums and songs, from either source.
  • Play on other devicesYescontrol your other devices from it
  • LyricsYesSynced lyrics, word by word where they exist
  • Social sharing and collaborative playlistsPartlyWhat your friends are listening to.
  • Desktop, mobile and web appsPartlyAn unofficial Android music client
myspotiNative Android Spotify client written in Kotlin with Jetpack Compose Same job, different way82%2.1k+447
484
 2 days agoToo few Install like an app GPL-3.0
Covers 2 of 3 core jobs. Partly: Personalized recommendations; Offline downloads; Desktop, mobile and web apps.See the evidence
  • Stream songs, albums and podcastscoreYesPodcasts and audiobooks, with their own player
  • Playlists and librarycoreYesYour Library with folders
  • Personalized recommendationscorePartlyAdd songs from a Spotify search inside the playlist, with suggestions
  • Offline downloadsPartlyOffline downloads, through extensions
  • Play on other devicesYesSpotify Connect, Jam, Bluetooth
  • LyricsYesSynced lyrics, word by word
  • Social sharing and collaborative playlistsYesinvite friends with a link, see who is in
  • Desktop, mobile and web appsPartlyAndroid TV and Google TV
spotatuiTerminal music player with native Spotify streaming plus local, radio and other sources Same job, different way73%1.8k+22
450
 7 days ago75% Uses the terminal MIT
Covers 2 of 3 core jobs. Partly: Personalized recommendations; Social sharing and collaborative playlists; Desktop, mobile and web apps. Not shown: Offline downloads.See the evidence
  • Stream songs, albums and podcastscoreYesSpotify through its own built-in client
  • Playlists and librarycoreYesA CLI for playback, search and playlists.
  • Personalized recommendationscorePartlyAn AI DJ inside the app
  • Offline downloadsNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Play on other devicesYeson any Spotify Connect device
  • LyricsYesSynced lyrics, and a real-time audio visualizer.
  • Social sharing and collaborative playlistsPartlyA local listening history with stats and a shareable recap.
  • Desktop, mobile and web appsPartlyA fast music player for the terminal and the desktop
spotifastLightweight native Spotify client with local playback and Spotify Connect Covers one part68%10k+397
1,246
 11 days ago78% Install like an app MIT
Covers 2 of 3 core jobs. Partly: Personalized recommendations; Desktop, mobile and web apps. Not shown: Offline downloads; Social sharing and collaborative playlists.See the evidence
  • Stream songs, albums and podcastscoreYesplays music through Spotify Soloist or the built-in librespot player
  • Playlists and librarycoreYesBrowse playlists, Liked Songs, albums, artists, and podcasts.
  • Personalized recommendationscorePartlyMade for you, listening activity and Spotify lyrics
  • Offline downloadsNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Play on other devicesYescontrol playback on your other devices
  • LyricsYesSpotify lyrics when the playback session is signed in
  • Social sharing and collaborative playlistsNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Desktop, mobile and web appsPartlyA lightweight music app for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
spotubeOpen source music streaming client for desktop and mobile using YouTube sources Same job, different way49%51k+96
178
 4 days ago100% Install like an app AGPL-3.0
Covers 1 of 3 core jobs. Partly: Playlists and library; Desktop, mobile and web apps. Not shown: Personalized recommendations; Play on other devices; Social sharing and collaborative playlists.See the evidence
  • Stream songs, albums and podcastscoreYesOpen source music streaming app!
  • Playlists and librarycorePartlyBring your own music metadata/playlist/audio-source with plugins
  • Personalized recommendationscoreNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Offline downloadsYesFreely downloadable tracks with tagged **metadata**.
  • Play on other devicesNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • LyricsYesTime synced lyrics regardless of the plugin support.
  • Social sharing and collaborative playlistsNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Desktop, mobile and web appsPartlyAvailable for both desktop & mobile!
sonoraNative music streaming client that plays Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music Same job, different way49%2.8k+111
2,682
 6 days ago71% Install like an app GPL-3.0
Covers 2 of 3 core jobs. Partly: Desktop, mobile and web apps. Not shown: Personalized recommendations; Offline downloads; Play on other devices; Social sharing and collaborative playlists.See the evidence
  • Stream songs, albums and podcastscoreYesStream from your favorite services and play local files
  • Playlists and librarycoreYeslibrespot — Spotify playback and library integration.
  • Personalized recommendationscoreNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Offline downloadsNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Play on other devicesNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • LyricsYesLyrics Synced Karaoke Background vocals
  • Social sharing and collaborative playlistsNot shownNeither the README nor the website mentions it.
  • Desktop, mobile and web appsPartlymacOS, Linux, Windows

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